Amazon announced Tuesday that data stored at its AWS data centers in Bahrain and the UAE was permanently lost after Iranian drone strikes earlier this year. The company stated that the damage in Bahrain exceeded backup system capabilities, following an initial strike in March and a second in April that took the entire AWS network offline. In the UAE, most customers resumed operations from other centers; two complexes remain under repair.
As The Zioneer reported earlier Wednesday at 12:07, Amazon confirmed that data stored at its AWS cloud data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates was permanently lost following Iranian drone strikes earlier this year. In a detailed statement released Tuesday evening, September 15, Amazon provided a timeline of the damage.
The company stated that the most severe damage occurred in Bahrain, where several data center complexes were hit. An initial strike in March was followed by a second attack in April that took the entire AWS Bahrain network offline. Amazon said the extent of the damage exceeded the capabilities of backup systems. Customers had been asked to move data after the first strike, but data that was not transferred could not be recovered despite extensive efforts. An additional update on the Bahrain facilities is expected in early 2027.
In the UAE, the situation was less severe. Most customers in the affected complex were able to continue operations from other centers using backups. However, repair of two additional UAE complexes is still ongoing, with no completion date given.
The drone strikes against Amazon's regional cloud infrastructure are part of a broader Iranian campaign against U.S. and allied assets in the Gulf, which has previously targeted the U.S. Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain. The permanent loss of cloud data highlights the vulnerability of civilian digital infrastructure to kinetic attack.
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